Beyond Repair Read Free Page A

and I spun around.
    Sean, the copywriter for the campaign I was working on, smiled at me. I immediately relaxed. “Hey. What’s up?”
    Oblivious that he just scared the hell out of me, he replied, “Morning, Brooke. Just wanted to go over some changes I had to make for the presentation. It shouldn’t take too long.” He held out a Styrofoam cup of coffee. “Hazelnut, with milk and one Splenda.”
    The stupid cup taunted me as I stared at it. Pierce unscrewed the cap of a bottle of water and held it out. “Thirsty?”
    His voice broke my thoughts. “Did I get that right?”
    Feeling horrible, I returned his smile. When Sean and I were in the breakroom at the same time a few weeks ago, we’d made small talk about how different people like their coffee. It was awkward and uncomfortable, in my opinion, but it obviously stuck with him. And now I had to go reading into it like he was an evil bastard. I took the cup. “Yes, thanks! You’re the best. Let’s take a look.”
    He was right; all the changes were easy. After promising that I would update everything before the meeting, he left.
    As soon as he was out of sight, I picked up the coffee and headed to the bathroom. Hunched over a sink, I stared at the cup in my hand, hypnotized by the steam swirling over the top. Sean was married, and his wife had a baby boy a few months ago. He was probably just doing something nice for his co-worker.
    I sighed as I turned the cup upside down and watched the light brown liquid while it swirled against the white porcelain. Damn, that smelled good. “What a waste,” I muttered as I turned the water on to rinse out the sink.
    * * *
    By the time Monday morning rolled around, you’d never have known Zoey and her family lived next door to me. Everything was gone. I kept busy helping them pack or watching the kids all weekend, trying to avoid thinking about how much I was going to miss them.
    I took the day off to help Zoey and Kyle unpack. Since the moving trucks wouldn’t arrive at the new house until ten o’clock, Mia and I spent the morning hanging out in front of the TV. By the time I dropped her off at school, there was just enough time to make it to Zoey’s by ten thirty, as she’d requested.
    Too bad for me, I forgot my phone, which I needed in case the school called with an emergency. I drove home faster than I should have and parked behind a U-Haul before I sprinted into my condo. Zoey was going to kill me for being late . I grabbed my phone and looked at the screen as I ran out. Good, no bitchy text —
    SMACK. “Ow!”
    I ran into a brick wall. It felt like that, anyway. All the air was knocked out of my chest. A pair of strong hands grabbed my shoulders before I fell back. “Whoa, sorry. You okay?”
    Who the fuck has their hands on me? My body immediately tensed, but luckily, they dropped off as soon as I caught my footing. I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding and looked up. And up and up.
    The brick wall had to be a foot taller than me. At least. Even though his face was far away, I could make out the clearest light blue eyes I had ever seen and a small scar on his chin. He had blond hair just a little too long and sticking up in some spots, and his mouth twisted in concern.
    “Are you okay?” he repeated.
    I blinked. “Hey. Um, yeah, I’m fine. Sorry about that. I have to help my sister move, and I’m running late. Obviously.” I looked down at my ripped jeans and dirty Converse All Stars and took a step backward so I could talk to him without straining my neck. I had no idea what to say next, so I stuck out my hand. “I’m Brooke.”
    “Chris.”
    I tilted my head as he spoke. His voice was low and hypnotizing, melting the block of ice sitting in my stomach. I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. He took my hand and thankfully didn’t do one of those bone-crushing handshakes that guys sometimes do. “I like your shirt.”
    My shirt was a tribute to the old Super Mario Bros. game from